Unofficial news and tips about Google

March 31, 2008

Google Still Doesn't Know Where to Place Related Searches

Google tries to place the related searches in a more prominent position, but it hasn't figured out what's the right place. Related searches are currently displayed at the bottom of the search results pages and include queries that narrow or expand your search.

Last year, Google added two experimental views that placed the related searches at the left and at the right of the page.

The two experiments have been removed from Google Labs and now Google tests another location: below the search box.

Some people also noticed that Google Suggest is tested as a default feature. In many cases, there are overlaps between the related searches and the suggestions, but Google Suggests hopes to improve your query before you perform a search.

Last year, Yahoo added a search assistent that combines autocomplete with related searches and only appears if you type some letters from a word and then stop for a couple of seconds. Even before Yahoo introduced Search Assist, the innovative Ask.com implemented an entire sidebar that makes it easy to find related names, concepts and other suggestions.

Improving queries by making them more precise is a major challenge for search engines, who often have to find answers for queries like [Vista], [guitar] or [car].